President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited executive order on Thursday that sets in motion a plan to establish a national regulatory framework for artificial intelligence while undermining states' ability to issue their own rules.
The order, titled “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,” creates an AI litigation task force within the Department of Justice to directly challenge state AI laws that the administration believes conflict with federal policy. It also directs the Commerce Department to establish guidelines that could make states ineligible for future broadband funding if they pass “onerous” AI laws.
The push for sweeping federal preemption over state AI laws has been fueled in large part by AI investors, conservative policy shops, and tech industry trade groups. These groups have argued that a patchwork of AI regulation could hinder Silicon Valley's AI boom and reduce America's competitiveness on the global stage. White House AI and crypto advisor David Sacks is one of the most vocal proponents of a light-hearted approach to AI regulation.
“The EO gives your administration the tools to roll back the most burdensome and excessive state regulations,” Sacks told Trump at Thursday's signing ceremony. “We are not going to push them all back. For example, we are going to protect the safety of children.”
The order is similar in many ways to an earlier design obtained by WIRED, but with a few key differences. The executive order directs Sacks and Michael Kratsios, the assistant to the president for science and technology, to draft a legislative recommendation establishing a federal policy framework for AI. Among the new additions is an exception within this legislative recommendation, which asks Congress not to preempt state AI laws that aim to protect children, promote data center infrastructure, and encourage state governments to purchase AI tools.
“We want one central source of approval, and we have strong Republican support. I think we probably have Democratic support as well, because that's common sense,” Trump said at Thursday's signing ceremony. “Any time you make a change, and it might be a very reasonable change, you still can't get it approved if you have to go to 50 states. This centralizes it.”
In the absence of federal regulations, officials from states across the country have pushed through their own research and legislation to govern the use and development of AI. Trump's executive order specifically calls out certain state AI laws — such as Colorado's SB24-205, which aims to limit “algorithmic discrimination” in AI models — as an attempt to “embed ideological biases.”
Several other state AI laws may also fall into the crosshairs of this executive order. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law in September requiring major tech companies to publish security frameworks around their AI models. In June, the New York Legislature passed a bill that would give the state's attorney general the authority to impose civil penalties of up to $30 million on AI developers who fail to meet safety standards. That bill is currently on New York Governor Kathy Hochul's desk, awaiting her signature or veto — although she is reportedly considering amendments that could significantly weaken the bill.
